


The Dawn of Our New World

by steph_writing



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Battle, F/M, Fluff, Golden Deer, Post Time Skip, Reunion, S Support, ending, fear the deer, his pov, hope it indulges you as well, this is so self indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-09-01 11:17:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20257213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steph_writing/pseuds/steph_writing
Summary: After months being apart, Claude, the new King of Almyra, finally goes back to Fódlan, desperate to meet Byleth again. What he finds when he and his Almyran army arrive in Derdriu though make him falter.Where is Byleth? Is he too late to save her? Is he too late to be happy? Is he too late to see the dawn of their new world?





	The Dawn of Our New World

It’s been almost a year. Almost a whole year since I’ve seen her, heard her, held her. I’m still not sure how this whole Gods thing work, but this absence must have been some sort of divine punishment.

I know I had to leave, there was still work to be done, but it didn’t make it any easier if we’re being honest here.

It takes all of me to keep my game face on as we march towards Derdriu. It’s so close I can already hear the battle cries, the metallic scent of blood invades our nostrils, smoke coming out of nearby buildings and woods.

As we reach the border of the city, I raise Failnaught and with the Amyran battle cry bursting first from my lunges and soon to be followed by all of my army, I shoot an arrow, piercing some random enemy soldier from those who slither in the dark on the neck.

And thus, our battle begins.  
My soldiers storm ahead, spreading out to help the few remaining troops from the Kingdom to achieve victory.

But I… I freeze for a second.

The scene before me is a bloodbath, composed mostly by fallen Kingdom soldiers, and it terrifies me.

I can see the remaining army is still perfectly positioned in a way to try and minimize losses, blocking the enemies’ access to the residential area to, most likely, give the civilians time to escape.

But it’s not enough. Good strategy can only get you so far when the enemy outnumbers you by so much.

The intel I had over the past months told me Byleth was focusing on restoring peace, rebuilding towns and villages, reforming the Church. She didn’t- no, couldn’t have focused on the military as well. It would be suicide, and I was too far away to help her with my schemes.

She did well. She was succeeding. She was being the Queen I knew she would be.

The thought that she could be among the corpses laying on the ground below me was…

No.

I can’t go there.

She’s not dead.

She can’t be.

Snapping out of my daze, I dash ahead with my wyvern, desperately trying to find her among the still standing soldiers, refusing to let my eyes wander to the poor bastards that gave their lives to protect their freedom, refusing to look for _her_ among _them_.

After mere minutes that felt like hours of searching, I see it.

That red glow from the Sword of the Creator glowing behind a building to my left.

Everything else fades when I overfly the building and look down at the battle going on next to it.

I had my spies give me constant updates on her, sure, but nothing prepared me for this moment, I don’t think nothing could’ve.

The same pale green hair just a bit longer, the same pale skin, the same delicate features laced with determination.

But she no longer looks like Teach, like the friend who walked by my side during the war.

She looks like a Queen.

Her face is fierce, determined to protect her people and their freedom, even if it costs her life. _That adorable fool_.

It’s not her face that grabs my attention though. Nor the blood splattered all over her, nor the way she seems to be favoring her right leg due to some wound I can’t see from up here, nor the pile of enemies laying dead by her feet.

It’s her eyes. I can see she’s putting up a strong front, trying to come up with some ingenious strategy now that she saw the Almyrans fighting by their side.

But she can’t fool me. I learned to decipher her puzzling expressions a long time ago, and I will never forget how to read her.

She’s afraid.

And that’s not something I can accept.

Blood boils in my veins when I see a shadow lurking behind her, waiting for the right moment to strike while the rebel in front of her robs her attention.

They take a step, and I shoot.

The gurgling sound the man in the shadows makes as he dies from my arrow makes her attention falter, wide eyes turning back to the sound giving the soldier in front of her the opening he needed to strike.

But I’m faster.

In but a moment his body is added to the ones already laying about, my wyvern never failing me as it struck him swiftly with his claws while also flying close enough to allow me to grab Byleth and pull her up with me.

“Wha-“

“Don’t ever scare me like that again, friend.”

I cut her short, holding her tight against my chest as I fly us to a safer place.

She’s filthy from dirt, blood and mud from the battle, but I don’t care.

The tightness on my chest seems to slowly soothe as I hug her closer and closer, burying my face on her hair and taking in her scent. Because under all the battle remnants, she still smells unmistakably like Byleth.

From up close I can see all the cuts and wounds she has, but before I can even catch my breath to say something clever, her trembling hands lay on my chest, her head slowly lifting to look at me.

She doesn’t look like a master strategist. She doesn’t look like the leader of a free nation. She doesn’t look like my old Teach.

“Claude… You came back.”

Her eyes glisten with tears I had only seen her shed a handful of times, and the small smile that tugs at her soft and plump lips, stretching a thin cut she seems to have gotten during this fight, could light up a whole world.

She looks like a Goddess. My Goddess.

“I told you I would.”

“Took you long enough.”

“What, did you miss me that much?”

I can’t help but chuckle as she glares at me, ready to snap back. I just don’t give her the chance to do it, leaning in to steal a swift kiss from her.

“We’re in a battlefield, what are you-”

“I missed you. I love you.” _I want to do so much more than kiss you_. “And it’s about damn time we see the dawn of our new world together. So, what do you say?”

I ask despite my true wish to whisk her away and never let anything hurt her again, handing her back her sword, just as we overfly a small group of enemies trying to escape our armies.

With renewed determination in her eyes, she nods once, grabbing the hilt of her sword and turning around to have enough room to freely yield it as we, together, cut down the final strings holding back the dawn of our new world.

“And Claude…” She turns to look at me over her shoulder. “I love you too.” 


End file.
